Magic in the City

There are thousands of independent wizards and sorcerers operating in the city, but in general access to the higher-level spells (6th-level and above) are controlled by guilds, who guard them jealously — even going to so far as to burn copies of spells in their libraries if they discover them.
Higher-level divine spells are even more strictly controlled, and generally only deemed suitable for Royals or those of great importance. As such, spells such as raise dead, resurrection, and true resurrection are not generally for sale to the ordinary character unless they have powerful connections. The Nobles reasoning is. “Dish them out to the Lowfolk,” they say, “and everyone will want them.” This does not rule out high-ranking clergy or those who serve them being given access to such spells as rewards, for example.
The Illuminati are rumoured to be the depository of hundreds of unknown spells, taken by their spies, unearthed by their explorers, and ripped from alien hands by their adventurer-agents. Tales of countless new forms of magicks and twisted domains of spells are speculated upon by conspiracy theorists. Of the few known to truly exist, the foul birth magic, that targets the unborn with vile eldritch and arcane power while still in the womb, has evidence walking and staggering across the city.
Tales of spells that can unmake a person’s biology, of arcane powers that can control parts of the Between, and those that are able to break and bend the will of men to unspeakable acts continue to be whispered.